I have been sitting up here this
morning, as we sing and pray, watching
you and thinking, what has God done to bring you
here this hour? How is it that he brought you
here? For some of you, you're here
because first God wrecked your lives and then brought you here. For some of you, you're here
because you had a wrecked home, met someone else and buried them
and God brought you here. Some of you were ill and God
fixed it so you're here. Heard me a long time ago on radio,
some on television, some on the internet. Some of you here because
you met somebody that you thought you wanted to date, so you came
to hear the gospel because that's how you could do it. Some of
you here by other means that I don't know, but God has arranged
for you to be here this hour. Put you in this place for you
to hear his word this hour. And if God will speak by me,
speak his word to your heart by his spirit. You will not leave
here indifferent. Wonder why he brought you here. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe to give you life and faith
in his son. Maybe. Maybe to harden you and damn
you forever. Maybe. The same sun that melts
the wax hardens the clay. I pray that God will be pleased
today to melt your heart before him by his spirit and by his
word. The Lord God declares repeatedly
in his word that he will gather his elect, his redeemed from
the north and the south and the east and the west. He will gather
them from all directions in this earth, out of every nation and
kindred, tribe and tongue. He says, yet will I gather them
from thence and bring them unto the place that I have chosen
to set my name. He will gather the sheaves, or
gather them as sheaves into the floor. He said, I'll gather them
from all nations and from all places whither I have driven
them. We're told in the book of Jeremiah,
you don't need to turn there, he that scattered them will gather
them. He that scattered them will gather
them. God scattered the nation of Israel
among the nations that he might gather them out of the nations.
And that was just a picture of God, how he had scattered our
race, scattered the sons of Adam, and scattered his elect among
all the sons of Adam in this world of Ham, that he might gather
them at the appointed time of his love. He says, hiss for them
and gather them. I will whistle for them like
a man whistles for an animal he owns and gather them. The
Lord God will gather his elect by almighty effectual irresistible
saving mercy into Jesus Christ our Lord giving sinners faith
in him by his grace. How does he do it? I want to
talk to you again this morning about the way he gathers them. Turn with me to Psalm 107. This 107th Psalm is a beautiful
display of God's adorable providence in saving his elect. It is a
inspired commentary on the statement the Apostle Paul made many, many,
many years later in Romans chapter 8. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. The Psalm is a allegory picturing
God's ways of grace, his methods of mercy. In Psalm 105 that we
read earlier, David used Israel's history from Abraham to Canaan
as an allegory. picture of God's salvation of
his elect. In Psalm 106, he shows us why
God saves sinners for his name's sake. And now here in Psalm 107,
he gives us a picture of the wondrous, mysterious workings
of God's providence. What it took to bring you to
Christ. What it took to give you faith. What it took to bring me to the
Savior. What it will take if God's pleased
to save you, to bring you to the Savior. It's talking about
God's providence. God's providence, but not just
his general providence over all the earth and over all the universe,
but his special providence. The special providence I mean
by that to God while he rules everything in the world He rules
it for our good People say well everything gonna turn out for
good not for some folks. It's gonna land some folks in
hell No, everything does not turn out for good. Everything
does not work for good Everything works together for good to God's
elect. I God's providence, His special
providence, is God's sovereign manipulation of all the affairs
of time for the saving of His people. Listen to this. He says,
I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Cebu for thee. Since thou was precious in my
sight, thou has been honorable, and I have loved thee. Now listen,
listen. Therefore will I give men for
thee and people for thy life. Truly, his thoughts are not our
thoughts, and his ways are not our ways. This 107th Psalm. magnifies
the triune Jehovah for his special spiritual blessings, of which
temporal blessings are but types and pictures. In Pilgrim's Progress,
we're told about Interpreter's House. Well, this psalm is like
Interpreter's House in Pilgrim's Progress. There, Pilgrim was
told that he would see excellent and profitable things. Now, as
we open this 107th psalm this morning, the Spirit of God calls
us to see excellent and wonderful things. I'll show you four things
in this psalm. Just hold your Bibles open and
we'll read these 43 verses together. I'll make a brief comment on
them. First, in verses 1, 2, and 3, we're called upon to extol
and give thanks to God for his goodness. Then in the biggest
section of the Psalm, verses 4 through 32, we're given four
illustrations of divine providence in salvation. Four illustrations
of how God works in providence to prepare His elect for and
to bring His elect to saving union with Christ Jesus. And
we're even given, in verses 33 through 42, some explanation
of the mystery of God's providence. And then in the last verse, we're
exhorted by these things to observe and remember the loving kindness
of our God. All right. First, the psalmist
calls for us to extol and give thanks to God for his goodness. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good. He is good. God is good. The very name by
which he makes himself known, God, is but an abbreviation of
the word good. God's good. God is good. In all his being, in all his
works, he's good. What God does is good. What God performs is good. What God says is good. God is good. Anything that seeks
to contradict who God is, what God does, and what God says is
evil and not good. Anything. So you have no basis
on which to make that statement. Oh, I do. This one. What God said. What God says
is good. Anything contrary to what God
says is evil and not good. It doesn't matter whether it's
your opinion, your mama's opinion, or your granddaddy's opinion.
It doesn't matter whether it is the opinion of most people,
or the opinion of few people, or the opinion of no people.
What God says is good, and anything contrary to it is evil and not
good. We recognize God is good. His
mercy endureth forever. Extol Him, give thanks to the
Lord, this good God, because His mercy endures forever. It's from everlasting to everlasting,
from generation to generation, the sons of men experience God's
mercy in Christ. Eternal covenant mercy. Redeeming
mercy, saving mercy, preserving mercy, daily mercy, His mercy
endures forever. We should give thanks to the
Lord because we're His. Look at verse 2. Let the redeemed
of the Lord. What a strange description of
somebody. The redeemed of the Lord? According
to this idolatrous generation of men who seek to deny God in
everything, everybody's redeemed. But here the psalmist speaks
of God's people as a distinct people. There are some people
in this world who are the redeemed of the Lord. A people bought
and paid for and delivered by Jesus Christ the Lord. Not everybody,
but the redeemed of the Lord. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. I just say, God is good. His mercy endures forever. The
redeemed of the Lord, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of
the enemy. The redeemed of the Lord, these
are the people who have been delivered by him. People have
been set free by him from the hand of the enemy. And gathered
them out of the lands from the east and from the west, from
the north and from the south. Those who've experienced God's
grace in all parts of the world are under special constraint
to praise Him. Now, certainly all men and women
ought to give thanks to God and praise Him for His mercy. You see, the fact that you're
not in hell is mercy. You're just a breath from everlasting
damnation. But that breath is mercy. Anything
this side of hell is mercy. And you have reason to give thanks
for the breath that's in your nostrils, for the food you eat,
for the air you breathe, for the water you drink. Give thanks
to God. But the redeemed of the Lord,
you who have been bought with Christ's precious blood, you
who have been delivered by his power and his grace from your
enemies, set free from the bondage of sin and the curse of the law
and the grip of Satan, You who have been redeemed from death
by the resurrection of Christ and your resurrection from him.
We have every reason to say his mercy endures forever. Another example of God's goodness
and mercy is the fact that he's gathered us to Christ by this
effectual saving power. We went astray. We all went our
own way. We chose our own path. Brother
Ron Wood and Pam are sitting here. I've known Pam's brother
since I was 19 years old. Met him in 1969. And didn't even
know he had a sister. I'm sure he must have told me
somewhere along the way, but I didn't know it. And Ron moved
up here, planning to go to school over here at this Baptist College
in Lexington and get his degree. Is that right? And there he sits.
been here ever since. Why? God brought him here. God
brought him here. God works in every way, all things
to bring his people to hear his word, to believe his son. He
says, I will hiss for them and gather them for I have redeemed
them. I will hiss for them and gather
them, for I have redeemed them. I'll call them. And when I call
them, I'll gather them. And I'll do it because I bought
them. I have redeemed them. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say, His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say, God is good. Is God good? When he takes away
as well as when he gives, the redeemed of the Lord say so.
Is God merciful when he frowns as well as when he smiles? The
redeemed of the Lord say so. Does God work all things together
for good to them that love him? The redeemed of the Lord say
so. Now, let's look at verses 4 through 32. Here are some illustrations of
God's providence, of what the old writers used to call prevenient
grace. Prevenient grace is that grace
that goes before grace, that grace that precedes God's saving
grace and prepares the way for God's saving grace. And when
we look at these displays of God's providence, understand
this judgment will never bring repentance. It won't happen. It won't happen. If you have a son or a daughter, brother,
sister, mother, neighbor, anybody who is in an accident and they
won't see me, I'll be happy to go to the hospital to visit with
them. But I'm not going to go twist their arms and make a confession
of faith. Not going to do it. Brother Don, my son, got arrested
last night. I believe he's ready for the Lord to save him. That
won't do it. That won't do it. I'll go visit him, but I won't
go twist his arm. Try to get him to make a profession of faith.
Being humbled by circumstances, experiencing divine judgment,
does not change the heart ever. Read Revelation, brother Don.
Folks in hell are under the judgment of God and they still go on rebelling.
Judgment never changes a man's heart. Judgment will never bring
a man to repentance. It's the goodness of God that
leadeth thee to repentance. But when God brings judgment
to your heart, that's another story. When God in his providence
strips you outwardly and humbles you outwardly and breaks you
outwardly, that's nothing unless by his word and by his gospel
he strips you and humbles you and breaks you by his spirit. You see, it is not an outward
work that changes a man, but an inward work. It is not outward
circumstances that make a man's heart to melt before God, but
the melting of his heart comes from within by God, the Holy
Spirit. We recognize these things and
therefore God's servants. I would do God every church member
every church every deacon every preacher in the world will hear
this God's servants are not ambulance chasers We leave that to the
lawyers Not God's servants now God service We seek an opportunity
to minister to folks and preach the gospel to them and we wait
for God to do his work All right, let's look at these illustrations
now of God's providence as he works in grace. Okay, verse four. We were lost, weary travelers
in need of a guide to bring us home to God. We were lost in
a wilderness of sin by reason of our own rebellion and ignorance.
Like silly ignorant sheep, we all went astray, turning everyone
to his own way. They wandered in the wilderness
in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in. But God did something for us.
He did something for these wandering sheep that he didn't do for the
folks. He did something for us as we wandered through this world. He didn't do for our neighbors,
our friends, our relatives. He made us hungry. Hungry, hungry
and thirsty, their soul fated in them. The prodigal left his
father's house, wasted all his substance and riotous living.
And when there was nothing left, when he had nothing to eat, he
went and joined himself to a farmer in the land. Pharisaic, legalistic
preacher. He said, son, you're not too
bad. You can work your way back into good favor with your father.
He's all you got to do is feed my hogs for a while, and everything
will be all right. And he tried. And he said he
would fain have filled his belly with the husk the swine did eat,
and no man gave to him. The husk that satisfied the swine
wouldn't satisfy his soul. God creates a hunger in the soul. Not just a hunger to escape hell
and go to heaven. Not just a desire to live and
not die. There's not anybody sitting here
listening to my voice who wants to go to hell. Not anybody. And if I wanted to just rightly
massage your brains and work with your emotions a little bit,
I can scare you into not going to hell to make a profession
of faith. That won't do you any good. That won't do you any good.
God creates a hunger in the soul. A hunger in the soul that sweetly
forces you to seek food for your soul where no one else can. To
seek bread for your soul that no one else does. To seek Christ
Jesus the Lord, hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
To hunger and thirst after righteousness. That doesn't mean, Jerry, you
hunger and thirst to start living a good life. There's never been
a drunk who didn't want to live a sober life. Never been one. There's never been one. He might
not admit it while he's drunk, but if he could figure out a
way, he'd live a sober life. He'd give it up. There's never
been one who didn't want that. There's never been a man who
ruined his life who didn't regret ruining his life. God, I could
persuade young people Growing up, children. I've been there. I've been there. I made hell
out of my life. And I'd have done anything to
have escaped it. I'd have even committed suicide
when I was 15, 16 years old if I wasn't scared to death of going
to hell. But that's not conviction. That's not hungering after righteousness.
to hunger after righteousness, David, has been made to know
you don't have any and you've got to have it. You're guilty before God. You
broke his law. You deserve his wrath. Hell is
your right portion. Oh, God, I need to be right.
Right with God. And that's found only in Christ
Jesus the Lord. And he led them forth in the
right way that they might go to a city of habitation. We're told in verse seven, verse
six, they cry to the Lord when he makes them hungry and he leads
them in the right way. The songwriter put it this way.
It was grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed. Now watch verse eight. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men. For he satisfies the longing
soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Here's the second picture. We
were all prisoners in bondage to sin and Satan and the law.
But Christ set us free. Verse 10, such as said in darkness
and in the shadow of death. Has God put you there? In darkness
with death hovering over you? In darkness with condemnation
swinging like a glittering sword over your head? Has God put you
in darkness with the shadow of death? bound in affliction and
iron. He said, God, I'm guilty. I'm lost. I'm doomed. I'm damned. And there's nothing I can do.
Nothing. Nothing. Somebody said, well,
choose to believe in Jesus. I've been trying, but I can't
do that. Turn to the Lord. I would if I could, but I can't
turn. Shut up to God and His mercy
alone. Because they rebelled against
the words of God. And contend, despise the counsel
of the Most High. I'm in this mess because of my
own doings. No one to blame but myself. Therefore he brought down their
heart with labor, and they fell down, and there was none to help. I'd sure like to find somebody
in this shape. I'd like to find some... I'd
go all over the world looking for folks just like this. Folks
sitting in prison, bound in affliction and iron, sitting in darkness,
utterly helpless, with nobody to help. I've got good news for you. There's
somebody who can help you. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I'm chief. With one afflictive providence
after another, the haughtiness of man is laid low. When a man's
humbled, by the hand of God in his heart under a sense of sin,
then he's willing to submit to Christ and his righteousness. Then the guilty sinner falls
down and pleads for mercy. Look at verse 13. Then they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their
distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of
death. and break their bands in sunder. All of this we owe to God and
his providence and grace. Oh, that we would praise the
Lord for his goodness. Goodness? I've told you this
many times. My friend, Brother Harry Graham,
I was just a young man. Harry was, oh, 30 years at least
my senior. He said, Don, When God begins
to work on a man, when God begins to work on a man, when God brings
a man under conviction, if you could see what's going on, you'd
say I wouldn't treat my, I wouldn't treat a mad dog like that. But God bringing the sinner down,
when God makes you know you're nothing but sin, when God makes
you know you have no ability. When God makes you know there's
nobody who can help you. When God makes you understand
that you deserve his wrath, you deserve to go to hell. If you
go to hell right now, you've already lived longer than you
deserve. Right now. When God does that, that's his
goodness. His wonderful works to the children
of men. for he hath broken the gates
of brass and cut the bars of iron in sundown. And when you're
set free, you'll sing grace, tis a charming sound harmonious
to the ear. Heaven with echo shall resound
and all the earth shall hear grace first inscribed my name
in God's eternal book. It was grace that gave me to
the Lamb who all my sorrows took. Grace taught my soul to pray. Grace made these eyes overflow. Grace has kept me to this day
and will not let me go. Look at verse 17. God makes the object of his mercy
a sin-sick soul in need of the physician. Fools. Fools. Fools. Mark, that's a pretty
good description of a man who will not trust Christ. That's
a pretty good description of somebody who despises God's word.
That's a pretty good description of someone who has all the world. There it is. Take it if you want
it. Take it. You've got all the gusto. Take
it all. And here's Christ the Lord. He
said, I'll take this. Fools. Because of their transgression
and because of their iniquities are afflicted. You won't hide behind God's purpose.
When judgment comes, the folks argue about predestination, and
they say, well, I couldn't be saved. I wasn't predestined to
be saved. I couldn't be saved. I wasn't one of the elect. You
take that up with God in judgment. Fools, because of their transgression,
because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth
all manner of meat. Their soul abhors Christ, the
bread of life. and they draw near to the gates
of death. Then, then, when hell is in their
souls, they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth
them out of their distresses. Rex, have you noticed something
in these three pictures? When folks cried to God out of
their distresses, everyone that did was delivered. There's never been a sinner to
seek his mercy who didn't have his mercy. There's never been
a sinner to seek God's grace who didn't have God's grace. And he saved them out of their
distresses. How is that? He sent his word. Oh, what grace. I made a profession of faith
in a whoopee Armenian church when I was seven years old in
second grade. Before I was eight years old, I'd go out and focus
on Sunday afternoon preaching. Like those idiots they have,
mamas and daddies have on television. I was one of those little boy
wonder idiot preachers. By the time I was nine years
old, I was fed up with religion and went my way. It didn't take. And I lived like hell. because
I wanted to. Whatever there was to get into,
I got into it. Made a wreck, everything. And
then one day, I met this little girl, and I decided I wanted
to date her, Jonathan. And her daddy was a little bit
smart. He said, you're not dating my daughter, let's go to church
with her. So, and the nose, nothing off my nose, let's go to church.
I just sit there and hold her hand, pay no attention to that
preacher. And I did. sitting back there, I didn't
hold hands and think about getting away so I could get a kiss when
the daddy wasn't looking. But I started going to Sunday
school. I started teaching the gospel.
Suddenly, for some reason, I started paying attention because God
sent his word. And I don't even remember the
girl's name. She didn't matter anymore. She didn't matter anymore. Oh, God, send your word. Send your word. Will you pray
as I and these other faithful men preach the gospel around
the world? God, send your word. When God sends his word, he heals. healed them, saved them out of
their diseases. He sent his word and healed them
and delivered them from their destruction. That's a pretty good description
of my life. Ron, I destroyed it and tried
to destroy everything around me. And then God sent his word. And it's his healing grace. Do what only God could do. Verse
21, oh, that man would praise the Lord for his goodness and
for his wonderful works to the children of men. Let them sacrifice the sacrifices
of Thanksgiving. And declare his works. with rejoicing. What can I do for him? Nothing. What can I do for him? Nothing. I can't give thanks. Offer my I can give thanks, devote myself
entirely to Him. I can give thanks, offering my
life, that one sacrifice with which God is well pleased, with
Christ Jesus the Lord, wholly acceptable in His sight. All
right, look at verse 23. Here's the fourth picture, like
semen. on raging waters ready to perish. They that go down to the sea
in ships. I believe Jonah was there, wasn't
he? That do business in great waters. These see the works of
the Lord and his wonders in the deep. He commandeth and raiseth the
stormy wind. lifteth up the waves thereof.
When Jonah decided to sail to Tarsus, he found a ship, paid
the fare thereof, got on ship, and the Lord raised up a storm
for Jonah. What the book says, he prepared
a storm for Jonah, and he prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.
So the Lord causes his own See his works in the deep. He commands
and raises up the storm, the stormy wind which lifteth up
the waves thereof. They mount up to heaven. They
go down again to the depth. Their soul is melted because
of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger
like a drunken man and are at their wits end. at your wit's end. God stops your mouth, all the
argument's over. God shuts you up, there's nothing
you can do. I've tried everything, I've been
to church, I reformed my life, I quit drinking, quit cussing,
quit running around, I've done everything I know to do, and
I've still got no peace! That's because you've been looking
everywhere except to Christ the Redeemer. Everywhere except to
him. Read on. At their wit's end. Then. It's when it will happen. Adam
and Eve, I'll tell you exactly when God saved you. When you
were at your wit's end. And when you were at your wit's
end, you called on him. And you won't call on him until
then. As long as you can make a shift. As long as you got a
little righteousness, as long as you got a little goodness,
as long as you think you're something, you'll never call on Christ for
mercy. But when you're at your wits
end, then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth
them out of their distresses, he maketh the storm a calm. I love the way this is stated.
Bill, it doesn't say he calms the raging storm. It says he makes the storm a
calm. He makes the storm a calm. What was the storm? God's wrath. God's judgment. God's justice. God's righteousness, God's holiness,
God's perfection. That's what terrified my soul.
That's what terrified my soul. No more. No more. I'm perfectly calm with
those things. Perfectly calm. Christ is satisfied
at all. And he brings them out of their
distresses, makes the wind calm, the storm calm, and the waves
thereof are still. Then are they glad because they
be quiet. I can't tell you. Oscar, the book talks about peace
that passes understanding. I can't begin to explain this.
I can't begin to explain it. But I know what it is to live
in terror of God in my conscience. I know what it is to be utterly
terrified of God. And Merle, I know what it is
to be quiet before God. I once laid on a bed that was
too short and wrapped in covers that were too narrow. But now
I found the bed on which I can stretch myself and covers in
which to wrap myself. The bed is Christ. The covers
are his righteousness and his blood. Oh, that men would praise
the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the
children of men. Let them exalt him also in the congregation
of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders. This is God's goodness. This
is God's wonderful work. Now, look at verses 33 and 34
and 35 as he explains the mystery of God's providence. He turneth the rivers into a
wilderness. and the water springs into dry
ground, a fruitful land into barrenness. For the wickedness
of them that dwell therein, he turneth the wilderness into a
standing water and dry ground into water springs. What's that mean? God takes the
gospel for one nation and gives it to another. When a land is
left barren, left without the gospel, without a witness of
the gospel. It's always because they despise
the goodness of God to them. When a land of darkness and ignorance
is given the light of the gospel, it's because God has a people
whom he will call out for his namesake scattered in that land. How often history has proved
this fact. Ephraim. Ah, Ephraim. How God blessed Ephraim. How
God prospered Ephraim. How God calls his prophets to
speak to Ephraim. How God sent his word to Ephraim.
But God says Ephraim is joined to his idols. Leave him alone. Leave him alone. Israel despised
the gospel. So Jerusalem was left desolate
and Israel blinded. Rome once flourished in the gospel.
I'm not talking about Rome as in Roman Catholicism as if somehow
there was something of light in papacy. There wasn't, there
isn't, and there never will be. Papacy is idolatry. But Rome,
the city, once flourished with the gospel. Read the book of
Romans. It was written to the saints
at Rome. But now she's imprisoned in idolatry and superstition. Ethiopia. That Ethiopian eunuch
went back to Ethiopia and apparently carried the gospel to his land.
It became the great center of gospel preaching in his day.
But now it's in gross darkness. I suppose no place on earth engrossed
in more darkness, unless it be the United States of America.
But God's not without his witness. He takes the gospel from one
place and sends it to another always so that he might gather
those who be scattered in the four corners of the earth. God
makes the hungry and thirsty soul to dwell in a land where
the gospel is preached. Look at this. Now before we read
this, listen to me. The greatest blessing, the greatest
blessing God ever gave you was the privilege of hearing his
gospel. The greatest blessing God ever
gave you, the greatest blessing God ever gives to any town or
community is to have a place like this where the gospel is
preached. You who take that lightly, behave
foolishly. Oh, you behave foolishly. Psalm 107 verse 36. There he
maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city of habitation
for habitation. And so the fields and plant vineyards,
which may yield fruits of increase, he blessed them also, so that
they are multiplied greatly and suffereth not their cattle to
decrease. Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression,
affliction, and sorrow. He poureth contempt upon princes
and causeth them to wander in the wilderness where there is
no way. Those whom God intends to save
He puts in a place where they'll hear the gospel. He sows the
seed of the gospel in the land by his servants, and he plants
his churches as vineyards in the land and gives fruit and
increase. For a season, they prosper and
flourish. But then because of sin and unbelief,
by an act of providence, they're diminished and brought low. But of these things, we may be
sure. Verse 41, God will save his elect. Yet saideth he, the
poor, on high from affliction, and maketh him families like
a flock. The righteous, God's elect, they
shall see it. They'll understand it. God work as you do. Do as you
have done. They'll see it, rejoice in all
iniquity. shall stop her mouth." When God gets done, Brother PJ,
soon we're going to be on the other side of this thing. And
we're going to look back. And all the righteous will see
what God's done. All those things all these years
that you thought were heartaches and pains and troubles, and they
were in the experience of them. You look back over and say, God
did good. Oh, this is what God's done to
bring me at last to glory! And the wicked, the wicked, you
who perish in your rebellion and unbelief, you're going to
see it too. You'll look back because look what God did for Don Fortner. I thought I thought somebody
would have hung him a long time ago. Look what God did for him. God's going to show his glory
everywhere to everybody. Now, here's the fourth thing.
I'll quit. Whoso is wise will observe these
things. Even they shall understand the
loving kindness of the Lord. Larry, I'm beginning to understand
the loving kindness of the Lord. I'm beginning to. Let me quote
this in one more time. Maybe it'll read a little more
to you now. Calper understood it. God moves in a mysterious
way his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable minds of
never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works
his sovereign will. You fearful saints, Fresh courage
take the clouds, the clouds you so much dread are big with mercy
and shall break in blessing on your head. Judge not the Lord
by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind the frowning
providence, God hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but all sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief. Blind unbelief. Blind unbelief is sure to err
and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter. and He will make it play. Amen.